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THE GEOGRAPHICAL DEVELOP 
MENT OF BOSTON 



l!y F. P.'TJui.i.IVKR, Ph. D. 

Ih' S/. .\hiri-'s Sr/mti/. Soiillihoro. .\/iiss 



Reprinted from The Jfiur- 
ual ot" Geography, Vol. 
II., No. (t. June, n)03 



rriiited for the Kditors by 

R.\X1). M.NALLY &• COMl'-XXV 



The JOURNAL of 
GEOGRAPHY 

PUBLISHED MOXTHLY, EXCEPT JULY AND AUGUST 

An Illustrated Magazine DeVoted to the Interests of Teachers of Geography in 
Elementary. Secondary, and JWormal Schools 

Successor to the /ourna/ o/ School Geo,g-rap/iy, Vol. V., and the Bulletin of the 
American Bureau of Geography, Vol. II. 



EDITORS 

RICHARD E. DODGE, 

Professor of Geography, Teaclwrs College, Colinnlna University, New York City. 

EDWARD M. LEHNERTS 

Professor of Geography, State Nortnal School, Winona, Minnesota. 

ASSOCIATE EDITORS 

CYRUS C. ADAMS Geographical Editor, N. Y. Sun 

OTIS W. CALDWELL, . Professor of Botany, State Normal School, Charleston, III. 
JAMES F. CHAMBERLAIN, Prof, of Geography, State Normal School, Los Angeles, Cal. 
HENRY C. COWLES . . . Associate in Botany, University of Chicago, Chicago, III. 
WILLIAM M. DAVIS. Professor of Geology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Alass. 
N. M. FENNEMAN . . . Professor of Geology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo. 
J. PAUL GOODE . Instructor in Geography, University of Pennsylvania, Phila., Pa. 
GEORGE B. HOLLISTER, Hydrographer, U. S. Geological Survey, Washington. D. C. 
M. S. W. 'i'&VY^K'&Q'i^, Professor of Geography, State Normal School, Ypsilanti,Mich. 
EMORY R. JOHNSON, Asst.Prof of Transportation and Commerce, Univ. of Penna. 
EDW. D. JONES, Asst. Prof, of Commerce and Industry, Univ. of Mich., Ann Arbor 
VERNON L. KELLOGG, Prof of Entomology, Leland Stanford Jr. Univ., Palo Alto, Cal. 

CHARLES F. KING Master of Dearborn School, Boston, Mass. 

S. J. Maclean, Asst. Prof, of Economics, Leland Stanford Jr. Univ., Palo Alto, Cal. 
FOREST RAY MOULTON, Assistant Professor in Astronomy, University of Chicago 

JACQUES \V. REDWAY Author, Ml. Vernon, N. Y. 

ELLEN C. SEMPLE Writer in Anthropogeography, Louisville, Ky. 

FREDERICK STARR, Associate Prof, of Anthropology, Univ. of Chicago, Chicago, III. 
RALPH S. TPilR.K, Professor of Physical Geography, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 

SPENCER TROTTER Professor of Biology, Sivarthmore College, Pa. 

ROBERT Dec. WARD . . Assistant Professor of Climatology, Harvard University 

ASSOCIA TE EDITORS FOR GREA T BRITAIN AND CANADA 
A. J. HERBERTSON, Lecturer in Regional Geography, Oxford University, England 
JOHN A. DRESSER St. Francis College, Richmond, Quebec 



TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION 

$1.50 a Year in Advance Single Copies, 20 Cents 

Price in all foreign countries in the Universal Postal Union, $1.90 (10 numbers), postpaid 
On sale with E. McGegan, Outlook Tower, Edinburgh, Scotland 



Subscriptions and advertisements should be sent to 

777^ JOURNAL OF GEOGRAPHY 

Room 560, 160 Adams Street, Chicago, 111., or Winona, Minn. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DEVELOPMENT OP" BOSTON 323 



THE GEOGRAPHICAL DEVELOPMENT OF 

BOSTON 

BV K. P. GULLINKR, PH.D. 
Of St. Jfark's School, Soulkboi-n, Mass. 

1^111'] crooked streets of liostoii aie said to follow the old paths 
along which the early settlers of the place drove their cows 
to and from their pasture on the conunon. However true this 
may be. it is certain that many of the main streets of the old city 
|)roper mark i:;eofiraphic features, formerly of importance, but now 
almost entirely forgotten. Atlantic avenue follows closely the original 



■J 2 A THE JOURNAL OF GEOGRAPHY June 

shore line. Washington street preserves in its curves the old road along 
the narrow neck of land, which was the only connection for a longtime 
between the mainland and Boston peninsula with its three hills which 
gave the name Tremont. Causeway street represents the dam to the 
earliest tidal mill pond, and Beacon street, the "Mill-dam," was built 
later to hold back the waters of Back Bay at high tide tt) l^e used for 
power at low tide. The curve of I'ark Square gives the shoreline of this 
Back Bay, where the fathers and grandfathers of the present genera- 
tion used to put on their skates to glide over the area now occupied 
by Trinity Church and the Public Library. 

In a very marked degree Greater Boston shows its physiographic 
control in its development. The hills, valleys, islands, marshes, estua- 
ries, etc., have helped or hindered the settlement and growth of the 
many village sites which are now included in Metropolitan Boston. 
Many locations were made before 1650 around Boston bay, (See Map 1.) 
so that there were a large number of towns around the central "hub " at 
the foot of the thi'ee mountains which were later to be taken in to form 
the spokes of the wheel of greater Boston. Some portions of this 
area are still under distinct political governments, as Cambridge, Brook- 
line, and Newton, but they no less truly form a part geographically 
of Metropolitan Boston. 

The limits of the area of Greater Boston are variously drawn for 
different purposes. In order to show how the villages have grown 
together in the past and how they will continue to grow together in 
the future to form continuously inhabited areas, the ten mile limit from 
the State House has been adopted for this article; thus the following 
cities and towns are included: Arlington, Belmont, Boston, Brain- 
tree, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Dedham, Everett, Hyde Park, 
Lexington, Lynn, Maiden, Medford, Melrose, Milton, Nahant, Need- 
ham, Newton, Quincy, Revere, Saugus, Somerville, Stoneham, Wakefield, 
Waltham, Watertown, Winchester, Winthrop, Woburn. (See map 5.) 
Portions of some of these towns are very thinly settled, but they all 
show growth from the centers toward their neighbors, along railroads or 
highways, so that the attempt to join is clearly seen. In the above 
list under Boston are included the following centers which had an in- 
dependent beginning: Brighton, Charlestown, Dorchester, East Bos- 
ton, Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, South Boston. In addition it must be 
remembered that many of the above towns began to grow in several 
places, and are therefore made up of several village sites. For example 
Newton includes the following centers of growth; Newton, Newton 



Gift 
Author 
(Person) 



GEOGRAPHICAL DKVELOPMKNT OF BOSTON 



;25 



Center, Ncwtoiivillc, West Newton, Newton Hi<2;hlan(ls, Newton Upper 
Falls, Newton Lower Falls, Anbnrndalc, and Waban. 

It will readily be seen that one must have intimate knowledge 
of a lariic number of centers of iirowth of such an area as Greater Boston, 
in order to give with any degree of accuracy the real growth for 
periods of fifty years. The writer consequently presents with much 
hesitancy the results of his study of this region, knowing that on ac- 
count of his incomplete knowledge of certain areas, many errors and 
inacc\u"acies have been included. Still the general impressions of growth 




O" 



Scale : lo miles = \y^ inches. 
Map I. Greater Boston, /ojo. 



and dev(^lo[)ment as given in this series of maps from 1G50 to 1900 are 
undoubtedly correct, and one can see how the estuaries and marshes 
have kept areas apart until bridges, filled land, and now elevated roads 
and tunnels, have connected them. Greater Boston can become a unit 
only by more complete connection between the isolated portions. 

If there is interest enough in this scries of maps to make it worth 
while to prepare a more exact set of maps, showing tiie increase of 
population for each period of fifty years from 1G")0 to 1900, the writer 
would be very glad to put the data together if some one from each 
town would undertake to look u|) the data for that town and record the 



326 



THE JOURNAL OF GEOGRAPHY 



June 




'€Lf-^ 




-G^ 



Scale: lo miles = i^ inches. 
Map 2. Greater Boston, lyoo. 

same on a series of large scale town maps, for each period of fifty years. 
This can be done only by some one who has access to the tov/n records 
and has the knowledge of local buildings. Such a set of maps would be 
of great interest to each to\\'n, and would be worth recording for future 
comparison, wdien many of these local units have been swallowed up 
in the extension of Boston. 

There are a great many points of interest in the past, present, 
and future development of Boston, as shown on these maps, only a 
few of which can be mentioned here. Old Boston was at first very 
much isolated from the surrounding towns, the only connection by land 
being the neck on the southwest side, across which all wheeled vehicles 
had to pass along what is now Washington street. (See maps 1 and 2.) 
Thus Roxbury and Dorchester were the two centers most closely con- 
nected with Boston for some two hundred years, and through them 
had to pass the stage coaches and produce-laden wagons from the 
towns to the west and south. A wagon to go from Cambridge to Boston 
had to start westward, and then go southward, and finally eastward 
through Roxbury across the neck. 

By 1800, however, two bridges had been built to connect Boston 



GEOGRAPHICAL DEVELOPMENT OF BOSTON 



327 



witli the towns to the west and noi'th. one to Cambridge and the other 
to Charlestown. (See map 3.) At first, comnumications had to be 
around by the neck or else by boat across the Charles or Mystic estuaries. 
These bridges brought a great deal of business from the north to the city, 
and the centers of population. Candjridge, Somerville, and Charlestown 
increased much more rapidly. By 1850 a second bridge had been 
built to Cambridge and a second to Charlestown. (See map 4.) 

The filling in of the Back Bay and the reclamation of the tidal 
flats along the Charles river has been one of the greatest improvements 
of the past seventy-five years. ]3y 1850, the mill-dam and two lines 
of railroad had crossed Back Bay, and considerable filling had been 
done on both sides of the neck. (See map 4.) Now in place of the nar- 
row neck is a broad land connection to the south and west, and the 
city is built almost continuously across this area to Dorchester, Rox- 
bury, Jamaica Plain, and Brookline. (See map 5.) The tidal flats 
on the Cambridge side of the Charles have also been filled, and build- 
ing has conunenced upon them. 




O^ 



D '^x 



J I I L. 



Scale : lo miles = iV^ inches. 
Mai* 3. Greatt-r Boston^ iSoo. 



328 



THE JOURNAL OF GEOGRAPHY 



June 




Scale : lo miles = ly^, inches. 
Map 4. Greater Boston, /Sjo. 

The growth and extension of the wharf hnes along the Boston, 
Charlestown, East Boston, and South Boston shore Hnes shows increased 
facilities for commerce. The plans for improvement around South 
Boston include the making of a good deal of ne\^■ land and the fornui- 
tion of a marine park. There are a great many other signs of recent 
development which will not be mentioned here. There are, however, 
two great systems of improvements to which reference should be made. 
One of these is the extensive park and boulevard connections, which 



CKOdUAl'HKAL DKVKI.Ol'MIvXT Ol' UOSTON 



329 



will tend to make of the many village sites seen on the earlier maps a 
well coordinated city. An'article on this subject by Mr. Shurtleff ap- 
pears in this number of the Journal of Geography. Another very 
important factor in the unifying of Greater Boston is the work of the 
Metropolitan Water and Sewerage Board. Many millions of dollars 
have been spent in recent years to secure a system of water supply 
of the highest quality and to supply adequate means for carrying off 
the waste water. The equalization of water conditions for all the 
former village sites of the Metropolitan area will do a great deal to- 
ward bringing the separate commmiities together into a Greater Boston. 




W / 



Siak- : 111 inik-s = j inches. 
Map 5. Greatt'f Kostou, iqoo. 



JOT 27 1905 



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